Railroad-spreader



R. E. BRESSLER.

RAILROAD SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-18,1919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

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RAILROAD SPREADER 1,376,510. APPLICATION FILED AUG-18. 1919- Pamnted 3 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. E. BRES'SLER. RAILROAD SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG- 18, 1919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

3 SHEETS Faber- 55785511971 I l hul lliulhu UNITED status PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. BRESSLER, OF HAMMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO 0. F. JORDAN COMPANY,

I OF EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

RAILRO A-D-SPREADER.

Application filed August 18, 1919.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Ronmrr E. BREssLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hammond, county of Lake, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new, useful, and Improved Railroad-Spreader, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines used for constructingrailways,and it has special and particular reference to improvements in railroad Spreaders, a class of machines which are used for distributing ballasting materials; for surfacing road beds or ways; and for other purposes requiring the spreading or distributing of materials.

A machine of the above class, in order to perform its work and to operate over the railroad right of way with the various limiting obstructions, requires that the material spreading wing shall be swingable to and from the side of the car, swingable through a vertical plane from a pivot adjacent the body of the car; and of a form adapted to be raised and lowered, as a whole, to and from the road bed. Not only are these various adjustments and features of operation necessary, but conditions met with from time to time require the frequent utilization of some or all of the features of adjustment and positioning before referred to.

The general object of my invention is to provide an improved railroad spreader in which the entire operation of the spreader can be controlled by men riding on the machine through the medium of simply controlled, and easily operable, positively functioning mechanism.

A further object of mv invention is to provide a spreader of the foregoing description which shall be provided with means for readily raising and lowering the spreader wings; for swinging them to and from the side of the car; for holding the spreader wings in desired placed position; for swinging the wings through a vertical plane and for holding them in any desired placed position as may be required by roadways, embankments, cuts of various forms, and obstructions along the right of way, to the end that the machine, as a whole, shall be practically automatic in all of its operations, 2'. c. in the sense of eliminating the necessity Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Serial No. 318,154.

of the manually positioning of the wing, and adjustment of the various braces necessary to hold the wing in desired position.

My invention consists generally in the form, arrangement, construction, and cooperation of the parts whereby the above named objects, together with others that will appear hereinafter, are attainable, and my invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate what I consider, at the present time, to be the preferred embodiment thereof.

In said drawings, Fi ure l is a plan view of a railroad spreader embodying mv invention, one of the spreader wings being shown in inoperative position and the other in operative or spreading position.

Fig. 2, is a vertical detailed view partly in section, and partly in elevation, viewed substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, only one of the wings and its operating mechanism being shown, and other parts of the car, not relating to the invention, being omitted.

Fig. 3, is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the wing folded against the car.

Fig. 4, is an enlarged detailed plan View of the mechanism used for swinging the spreader wing in a vertical plane and for looking it in desired position.

Fig. 5, is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6, is an end View of the mechanism shown in Figs. 4, and 5.

In the drawings, I have shown my invention as combined with or as a part of a railroad spreader car of the well-known construction such as is disclosed generally in the O. F. Jordan Patent No. 996,256 of June 27, 1911. It should be distinctly understood, however, that this car is used for illustrative purposes and, except where limited by the claims, I. may employ a car of any suitable construction. While it is not necessary to describe the car in detail, since such a description will be found in said patent, nevertheless, a general description of the car and its operation will be helpful.

The car is provided with front and rear trucks and with suitable center and side sills. At a point just back of the front trucks (not shown) will be found, vertical column 6, which are secured to opposite sides of the under frame and which extend nearly to the rails. The material moving wing 12 is attached at one end to the movable hinge posts 99 whichare freely slidable in the columns 6-6. These posts are operated (vertically) by means of compressed air engine 1010, and the car is equipped with a compressed air reservoir 10 suitably connected to the engines 1()10. I have not detailed the pipe connections and valves since they may be as shown in the hereinbefore mentioned Jordan patent.

The two sides of the car are exactl alike except that the parts occupy reverse positions; this being the case a description of one side, and its operating mechanism, will serve clearly to define both sides. It should be understood, however that the mechanism on each side is independentlyoperable and that either one thereof, or both, may be used at one time according to the work torbe accomplished. The post 9 bears a heavy hinge plate 9 on its lower part, and to this is secured a heavy hinge section 11 The pivot pin 12 of the hinge occupies a vertical position and the wing 12 is pivoted in the part 11 by means of a horizontal pin The two pivot pins being disposed at right angles, allows the wing 12 to swing both in horizontal and vertical planes. The horizontal movement occurs in distending and retracting the wing to and from its operating position, and the vertical movement when it is desired to incline the wing to any desired angle to the horizontal for the ballast shap ing of the road bed or in the spreading of materials. The free end of the wing 12 is sustained and also braced by an adjustable telescopic brace and wing swinging member 14, the lower end of which is pivotaily attached to the wing 12 at 14 and the upper end of which is vertically pivoted to the plate 9, upon the upper part of the post 9, as indicated at 14 that is to say, 14 is a vertical pivot arranged to permit a horizontal swing. The wing 12, being attached to the post 9, obviously rises and falls with the post as the same is actuated by the engine 10, before described. The wing 12 is shown in distended or operative position on one side of the car, and in closed or inoperative position upon the other side, in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

For holding the wing 12 distended against the material which it must displace as the car is moved forward, I prefer to employ a plurality of braces ((-44, which may.

be of the construction shown in Patent No. The braces a-a serve both as braces, and as toggle members whereby when. the shaft 118 is rocked as by means of the air engine 19, it

serves to throw or move the wing 12, out wardly to operative position, or inwardly to inoperative position, depending upon the direction in which itis rocked. The wing 12, swings to and from.the car in a horizontal position, and when in its outer position the angular position of the wing is adjusted or changed, as desired, to spread the material in the formation of the road bed. It will be understood that the engine 19, which controls the wing 12, in so far as its movement to and from the side of the car is concerned, is controlled by workmen on the car through suitable valve mechanism (not shown).

I shall now describe in detail the novel mechanism whereby the wing 12, may e swung on the horizontal pivot 13, and locked in desired position likewise, by men on the car. The bracing strut 14 is composed, as here shown, of a I-beam 30, the upper end 31, of which enters the hinge part of the member 9", and the vertical pivot pin 14 passes therethrough. This enables the strut 14 to swing through a horizontal plane as is required when swinging movement of the wing 12 on the vertical pivot 12 occurs. The

lower end of the I-beam 30, extends into the space 31 between spaced channel members 32 and 33, the lower ends of which are pivotally attached to the wing 12 at 14 as before described. At the upper ends of the channel members 32 and 33, will be found box-like members 34 and The lower box-like member 34 is composed of channel members 36 and 37, the flange portions of which extend inwardly. The upper flanges 38 and 39 are secured, as by means of rivets 40, to the lower flanges 41 and 42- of the channel members 32 and The lower flanges 43 and 44 are connected by a plate 45, thus completing the box around the lower flange of the I-beam 30. A similar box is formed around the upper flange of the I- beam 30 by the channel members 46 and 47, the lower flanges 48 and 49 of which are secured respectively to the upper flanges 50 and 51, of the channel members 32 and 33. A plate 52 connects the upper flanges of the channel members 46 and 47. In the boxes 34 and 35 will be found rollers 53 and 54, which rollers are carried upon pivot pins 55 and 56 respectively, the ends of which are secured in the base portions of the channel members 36, 37, 46 and 47, respectively. The wheels or rollers 53 and 54 are positioned so that they engage the upper and lower faces of the I-beam 30. By this construction any tendency of the strut 14 to sag intermediate its ends is prevented, and easy telescoping of the brace is enabled. By telescoping or distending the parts of the strut 14, its length obviously may be changed and as its length is changed, the wing 12 is swung, upon the horizontal pivot 13, either upwardly or downwardly, depending upon the telescopic movement of the parts. In most railroad work it is desirableto have the wing 12 extend at an angle downwardly, and I have shown such a position in full lines in Fig. 2. The wing 12 of its own weight will fall, and in fact, at times, it may be desirable to restrain the downward movement of the wing to prevent damage by too rapid movement. The wing 12 is very heavy indeed, and considerable work is required to elevate it. I have provided means, which can be controlled from the car by workmen thereon, whereby the swinging movements of the wing 12 upon the horizontal pivot 13, can be accomplished with ease and rapidity. To this .end I mount an air engine 57 upon the I-beam 30. The engine 57 in the present instance is an air engine and has a piston (not shown) and a piston rod 58, extending out of the cylinder, a sufiicient distance to enable the firm attachment of a device 59 to which one end of the rope or cable 60 is secured. The cable 60.passes back and forth over sheaves 61 and 62 and at its other end is connected to the sliding boxes 3% and 35. The sheave 61 is pivoted in brackets carried by the boxes 34 and 35. In this manner a sufiicient leverage is secured so that a reasonable air pressure will serve to actuate this extremely heavy wing. The engine 57 is connected to pipe 68 leading to the air reservoir 10 by means of a flexible conduit 63, in order that movements of the wing will not be interfered with. Air is supplied to x the engine through the conduit 63, and the air may be regulated by means of the valve 64. All that it is necessary for the workmen on the car to do in order to raise the wing is merely to turn the valve 64 to apply air pressure to the engine 57, and to lower it, it is but necessary to shut off the valve 64. By leakage, any air in the cylinder will soon be exhausted and the wing will fall of its own weight. As before stated the wing will usually operate in a downwardly extending position, but if for any reason it should be necessary to operate the wing in an upwardly extending position this can be accomplished by simply shortening the cable 60 so that the wing can be pulled from a horizontal position, (being the position in which it swings to and from the side of the car under the action of the toggle members aa) to an upwardly extending position such as is shown by means of dotted lines in Fig. 2.

It is also desirable, in addition to swinging the wing 12 upon the horizontal pivot 18, to lock the wing 12 against swinging movement on that pivot. Otherwise, the material to be displaced would lift the wing from time to time and cause an uneven spread of the material. I have provided locking mechanism which likewise can be operated from the car. This mechanism comprises a bell crank lever 65, which is pivotally secured to the channel member 33 as by means of a vertical pivot 66. The bell crank lever contains a projection 67 which projects through the opening in the channel member 33 and is of sufficient length to enter one of the openings 68 provided in the I-beam 30. compression spring 69 serves to hold the lever 65 in latching position. In order to release the latch or lever 65, a cable 70 is provided which extends over the sheave 71 carried on the I-beam 30, and from the sheave 71 to a position on the car where it can be readily grasped by the operator. To release the latch a slight air pressure may be applied to the engine so that the projection 67 is free of the opening, at which time movement of the cable 70 swings the projection 67 free of the opening 68 with which it was engaged. The telescopic brace parts are then positioned, as desired, at which time the cable 70 is released and the latch springs back so that the projection 67 thereon enters the adjacent opening 68 of the I-beam.

I claim:

1. The improvements herein described, comprising a car in combination with a spreader wing having its inner end joined to the car by a horizontal pivot, a telescopic swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing, means for actuating said telescopic brace to swing the wing on its horizontal pivot, and means for locking said telescopic brace in any placed position, said means including a latch carried by one member of the telescopic brace and having a projection adapted to enter openings in the other telescopic brace member, and spring means for holding the latch in locked position.

2. The improvements herein described, comprising a car in combination with a spreader wing having its inner end joined to the car by a horizontal pivot, a telescopic swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing, means for actuating said telescopic brace to swing the wing on its horizontal pivot, means for locking said telescopic brace in any placed position, said means including a latch carried by one member of the telescopic brace and having a projection adapted to enter openings in the other telescopic brace member, spring means for holding the latch in looking position, and latch operating means operable from the car.

3. The improvements herein described, comprising a car, in combination with a spreader wing having its inner end joined to the car by a horizontal pivot, a telescopic swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing,

swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing,

and an engine mounted on the telescopic brace and operable to actuate said telescopic brace to swing the wing on its pivot.

V 5. The improvements herein describec, com 'irising a car, in combination with a spreader wing having its inner end joined to the car by a horizontal pivot, telescopic swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing, means "for actuating said telescopic brace to swing the wing on its pivot, and means for locking said telescopic brace in desired placed position.

' (3. The improvements herein described, comprising a car, in combination with a spreader wing having its inner end joined to the car by a horizontal pivot, a telescopic swinging and holding brace extending between the car and the outer end of the wing, an engine mounted on the telescopic brace and operable to actuate said telescopic brace to swing the-wing on its pivot, and means operable from the car "for locking said telescopic brace in desired placed position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 26th day of July, 19l9.

ROBERT E. BRESSLER. 

